Pictures
by LittleDemonInside
Summary: One-shot. Hinata/Mao shoujo-ai. Hinata and Mao take a trip down memory lane.


**Disclaimer**: I don't own Hinata Hino or Mao Nonosaka.

This is my entry for the Valentine's Day contest for the deviantArt group Mirai-Nikki-FG.

I'm surprised I actually got it finished on Valentine's Day! I'm a bit iffy about the ending, but I think it's good over all and I've always wanted to do a piece for these two ever since I read the manga. Please enjoy. ^^

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><p>Hino Hinata was pretty sure she hadn't set her cell phone's alarm clock function to go off that morning. Her brows furrowed as she tried to ignore the incessant beeping, wishing for nothing else than a few more hours of deep sleep. She started to drift off… when her phone started to vibrate and a familiar jingle sounded; Mao was messaging her.<p>

Brown eyes snapped open and she irritably pawed at the cell phone on her nightstand. "Someone better be dying," she growled through grit teeth.

'_Wake up, Hinata! It's already nine! ^_^'_

"…" Hinata put the phone down and shuffled back under the covers. She was too tired. Getting angry wasn't worth it.

Before she could even get comfortable though, her cell phone buzzed again, this time with a phone call. Already knowing who it was, Hinata flipped open the cell and brought it to her ear, "Can't this wait until later, Mao?"

"_If we had it your way, you wouldn't get out of the bed until two in the afternoon!_" Mao could be heard giggling from the other end. "_Wake up! I have a surprise for you._"

_A surprise?_ The brunette figured she wasn't getting back to sleep any time soon, so she might as well find out what this surprise was. "Alright. Give me twenty minutes to get ready."

"_Oh, are you going to shower now? It'll be faster if I helped you wash your bac-_"

Hinata closed the cell phone and started to get ready for the day.

Twenty minutes later, they met up outside Hinata's house where the brunette found her long-time friend waiting for her. "So what's this big surprise, Mao-chan?" A nice warm shower seemed to have done her mood some good as she greeted at other girl with a smile.

Mao smiled knowingly, "I can't tell you what it is yet. You have to find it first."

"Find it?"

"We're going on a treasure hunt!" the lavender-haired girl cheered, only to be greeted with silence.

"We're middle schoolers now, remember?" Hinata replied when she realized Mao was serious. "We don't do treasure hunts anymore."

"So Hinata's fourteen and she's suddenly an adult?" Mao sighed, her eyes falling to the side, "Well, I suppose if you're too old for your surprise then…" she trailed off sadly.

Hinata peered at her friend, weighing the pros and cons of going along with Mao's game. _… But I really want to know what that surprise is!_ "Alright, fine. I'll play along."

Mao's face lit right back up, "Great! I'll explain the rules: I'll show you a picture and all you have to do is go to the location the picture was taken to receive your next clue. At the very last location, you'll find your surprise."

Hinata smirked, "Sounds easy enough! Okay then, bring on the first picture!"

Mao took the picture out of her pocket and held it up for the other to see: it was a photo of a very young Hinata giving the photographer a bewildered, yet intrigued look with piece of pocky sticking out of her mouth.

"Ah! That's from when we met for the very first time. It was the very first day of school and you were going around snapping pictures of everything."

"Yes! You had such an adorable look on your face that I had to take a picture!" Mao giggled, recalling the fuss Hinata had caused trying to get the toddler-proof camera after she had snapped the picture.

Hinata scowled at the photograph, also remembering how she and Mao had to sit in time-out after the ruckus they caused, "Not my proudest moment."

"But still one of my most treasured memories." Mao face softened and a gentle smile crossed her features as she closed her eyes, holding the photo close to her heart.

Hinata's cheeks flushed with warmth as she watched her friend. "U-um…" Flustered, she tried to think of something to say, "Oh yeah! That means my next clue is at the elementary school, right? Then let's go!" Not waiting for an answer, the brunette zipped up her jersey and started to run down the street.

"Ah!" Mao started, "Wait for me!" Tucking the photo back into her pocket, she took off after her friend, one hand holding down her beret so it wouldn't fly off.

xXx

They walked from location to location, each spot having a special significance to them both, each place holding fond memories of the fun they had together as they grew up.

They traveled from Mao's favorite ice cream stand, to the video arcade where Hinata dominated the top score on at least half the machines. The pair wound up at the pet shop where Hinata use to drag Mao after school to look at the puppies, and then only had to walk a couple more blocks until they found themselves at Mao's favorite camera store (though Hinata had never understood the shorter girl's fascination for cameras).

It was already past one when they reached the city park, having taken a break to eat lunch an hour before. The two girls walked up to the vending machines along the path, the same vending machines in Mao's previous photo.

"This is where we took Amano and Gasai to have drinks when we went to check out that crime scene." Hinata was about to enter money into the vending machine to pick out a drink when a cold can brushed against her cheek, causing her to jump back. Rubbing her cheek, the brunette noticed Mao waving a small can at her, already having bought beverages for them both. Instead of feeling grateful, however, Hinata gave her partner a deadpan look, recognizing the drink as the type she spewed in Mao's photo.

The photographer in question burst into a fit of giggles, unable to keep them contained any longer.

Hinata rolled her eyes, once again going over to the vending machine and picking out a drink she knew she'd enjoy, "So, what's the next photo?"

"You already said it."

The drink of choice clanked to the bottom and Hinata opened the flap to retrieve the bottle. "Huh?" The taller girl stood up to her full height and glanced at the photo her friend was holding out. "The playground!" It was the very same playground as the scene of the crime, yet it was obvious the picture was taken many years before that, from when they themselves use to play there. Hinata opened her drink and lead the way, Mao following faithfully behind.

It was barely a ten-minute stroll before the duo ended up at their old playing spot. Hinata smiled as she remembered climbing on the jungle gym or bouncing up and down on a seesaw. She watched the lavender-haired girl amble over to the swing set and sit down, rocking just hard enough to where her feet didn't leave the ground. Hinata herself walked over and leaned against the swing set's pole, memories coming back to her as her vision panned the playground.

"This is where we spent most of our time," Mao finally spoke up, breaking the comfortable silence behind them. Her voice sounded as distant as her gaze.

"Mm." Hinata chuckled, "Like over at the water fountain," she pointed. "I remember one time when you were drinking and I snuck up behind you, scaring you."

"You didn't scare me! You _startled_ me," Mao corrected, her cheeks pinking in embarrassment.

"Alright, I 'startled' you and your face got all wet!" the brunette laughed.

Mao huffed, looking for a way to move the conversation along. She smiled when she found one, "And over by that sandbox; I remember one time when I was building a sandcastle, and a couple boys from the neighborhood kicked it down." Mao giggled behind her hand, "You chased them half way through the park before the adults were finally able to stop you."

"Well, you worked hard on that castle and they made you cry!" Hinata tried to defend her actions. She looked back to her friend and instead of the laughing face she suspected to see, she was greeted with a fond, gentle look in those light green eyes. Again, Hinata felt her face warm under that stare and quickly turned away. Her body always acted weird whenever Mao gave her that look; she wasn't stupid, she knew what it meant, but she didn't know how to react to her body's reactions. She tried a diversion, "So, the next photo…?"

"There isn't one."

"What?" Hinata looked back to Mao.

She watched the other girl push off, pumping her legs back and forth to swing normally, "You'll have to find the surprise here." It was obvious she wasn't going to say any more than that. The brunette pushed off the pole and started to search.

Without knowing what she was looking for, she searched high and low for anything out of place. Eventually she came upon a small box under the slide. She held it up for the other girl to see, "Is this it?" she yelled.

"Mmhm!" Timing her jump right, Mao jumped off the swing at the highest point and landed on her feet. She walked over and encouraged her friend to open it.

Not wasting any time, Hinata opened the box to find… "Chocolates?"

"Yep, I made them myself. Go ahead and try one." Try as she might to hide it, Mao's voice betrayed her anxiousness.

The brunette popped one into her mouth, "Mm!" She swallowed, "These are really good!"

Mao's cheeks flushed a light pink under the compliment, "Thank you." She spoke up again after Hinata enjoyed a couple more chocolates. "There's still another part to your surprise under the slide."

Curious, Hinata placed the box of chocolates on the flat bottom of the large slide and bent down to look underneath once more. She found one more item, this one bigger than the box of chocolates, further in the shadows. She reached and pulled it out, "A photo album?" She opened it up and noticed some of the pages were already filled, "These are the pictures you were showing me today!"

Mao nodded her head, "I filled in the first few pages, but the rest of them are for you to fill in with whatever pictures you want." She smiled up to the other girl, "I wanted you to have a photo album so you could look back on fond memories whenever you wanted." The lavender-haired girl walked up to her best friend and hugged her close, "Happy Valentine's Day, Hinata." Then, in the quietest of whispers, she said it, "I love you."

Again Hinata's heart started to beat wildly, her face burned and it was hard to breathe. She swallowed, trying to unclog her suddenly thick throat, _All this from three words?_

All at once she sighed, relaxing her body and letting loose the tension, _Alright body. I get it. You win._ Tentatively she brought her own arms up around Mao's body, hesitantly hugging the other girl and pulling her in close. Ignoring Mao's look of confusion, Hinata turned her head away and looked up to the sky, her scarlet red blush reaching all the way to the tips of her ears.

_I won't be able to today, maybe not even tomorrow, but one day, I'll be able to say those same three words back to you._


End file.
